GRATITUDE ON BAD DAYS

It's easy to count gifts on a Sunday evening.  On the weekend Daddy's home.  There is no schoolwork to do.  The weather is warming and the children have played outside for hours.  The songs of praise and encouraging words are still rattling around in our heads from the morning at church.
Life is good.

But then there are those days that gratitude does not come easily.  One child is sick, the others can't seem to get along, daddy's out of town, the laundry is mountainous, the car won't start, nothing is getting accomplished, emotions run high, worry sets in.  These days are hard.  And I am glad when they are over.

But then the sun sets...

...and then it rises.

Usually the next day is brighter.  

It's difficult to find the gifts on days when I feel miserable.  It's difficult but necessary.

67.  dishwashers

68.  tissues with lotion

69.  DVD players on long car trips

70.  really good ice cream

71.  hand knit socks (thanks mom!)

72.  feather pillows

73.  new buds providing color in a brown landscape

74.  Dinner with old friends...

75.  ...sharing hamburgers, onion rings, milkshakes, and conversation... 

76.  ...4 adults and 10 children surviving dining out.

77.  friendships that thrive despite the distance

78. having a friend who shares my story

79. sunlight on colored glass

80. watching my children share adventures

81.  primitive art work discovered 

82. the never ending imagination of children in the woods 

83.  brightly colored boots drying in the sun after the day's expedition

84.  hearing "I love you Mama" at bedtime, despite my impatience with them during the day

85.  the gift of a new day - a fresh start each morning

Thank you God that you have promised new joys every morning.

P.S.  I recently heard someone say they don't like to visit blogs that depict life as "all rainbows and unicorns".  I understood what they meant by the statement.  Life is not all sunsets walks and blooming flowers. "Keeping it real" is a phrase I hear often.  However, my gratitude is just as real as my misery.  I choose to focus on the gratitude because one or the other becomes a daily habit.